Rugby World Cup 2015 Qualifying Groups

Africa will provide one direct qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Africa 1) and one team into the Repechage.

The Confédération Africaine de Rugby (CAR) Championship is the regional qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup 2015, with Divisions 1A, 1B and 1C involved in the process.

The Division 1A winner in 2014 will take their place at RWC 2015 as Africa 1, while the runner-up will enter the Repechage for a second change to reach Rugby’s showcase event.

Africa Teams Pending Qualification:

Kenya

Madagascar

Namibia

Zimbabwe

Americas:

The qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2015 will, once again, begin in the Americas with the honour of playing in the first match on the road to England 2015 belonging to Mexico and Jamaica on 24 March 2012.

The Americas will provide two direct qualifiers for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Americas 1 and 2) and one team into the Repechage.

The regional tournaments of the North America Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) and Confederación Sudamericano de Rugby (CONSUR) in 2012 both form part of the process with the NACRA winner and CONSUR B winner meeting in a play-off. The winner of this play-off will then face the bottom side in the CONSUR A Championship for the chance to play in the 2013 edition.

Also in 2013, Canada and USA will play each other home and away with the aggregate winner qualifying directly for RWC 2015 as Americas 1. The loser will then face the 2013 CONSUR A champion in another home and away play-off to determine the Americas 2 qualifier.

The loser of this play-off will still have a chance to qualify for RWC 2015 through the Repechage.

Americas Teams Pending Qualification:

United States

Uruguay

Asia:

Asia will provide one direct qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Asia 1) and one team into the Repechage.

The HSBC Asian 5 Nations will act as the regional qualification tournament with four tiers of the annual competition – Top 5, Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 – involved in the process at some stage.

The second region to begin its qualification process after the Americas, the Asian 5 Nations will see the Division 1 winner in 2012 promoted to the Top 5 the following year, while the Division 2 and 3 winners will meet in a play-off to determine who is promoted to Division 1 in 2013.

The winner of the Top 5 competition in 2014 will qualify for RWC 2015 as Asia 1, while the runner-up will enter the Repechage.

Asia Teams Pending Qualification:

Hong Kong

Japan

Philippines

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Europe:

Europe will provide two direct qualifiers for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Europe 1 and 2) and one team into the Repechage.

The European Nations Cup 2014 is the regional qualification tournament with six divisions involved in the process at different stages.

Divisions 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D will only act as RWC 2015 qualifiers in the 2012/13 season with play-off matches involving the winners included to allow teams from these divisions to progress through the process.

The top two divisions – 1A and 1B – will be RWC 2015 qualifiers in both the 2012/13 and 2013/14.

The winner and runner-up in Division 1A will qualifier directly for RWC 2015 as Europe 1 and Europe 2 respectively. The third placed team will face the team still standing after four play-off rounds involving winners of the lower divisions for the right to enter the Repechage.

Europe Teams Pending Qualification:

Belgium

Georgia

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Spain

Luxembourg

Israel

Netherlands

Germany

Moldova

Sweden

Poland

Ukraine

Czech Republic

Oceania:

Oceania will provide one direct qualifier to Rugby World Cup 2015 (Oceania 1) and will be the last region to begin its qualification process for England 2015.

The Oceania Cup 2013 is the regional qualification tournament for RWC 2015 with the winner to play Fiji in a one-off match. The winner of this play-off will qualifier directly for RWC 2015 as Oceania 1.

Oceania Teams Pending Qualification:

Cook Islands

Fiji

Repechage:

The Repechage will determine the 20th and final qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2015.

Four teams will be involved in the Repechage, representing four regions – Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

The first stage of the Repechage will involve two matches, one between the CAR Division 1A runner-up and the winner of the Europe qualifier round 6, and the involving the Americas play-off loser and the Asian 5 Nations runner-up.

The winner of these two matches will then play home and away with the side emerging victorious on aggregate completing the Rugby World Cup 2015 field as Repechage Winner.